KARACHI: MS, HSD and FO sales showed recovery of 4.6/6.0/32 percent on year-on-year basis, respectively that took petroleum sales to 1.7 million tons in October 2020. Sequential uptick in economic activity coupled with the cheaper FO prices pulled total petroleum sales by 7.4 percent on YoY in the four months of FY21 to 6.44 million Tons.

Increased inter-city travel along with the resumption in international trade resulted in 43/7 percent uptick in MS and HSD sales, Syed Masroor Hussain Zaidi at BMA Capital Management Limited said.

Whereas FO sales witnessed a decline of 22 percent on MoM in contrast to 46 percent on YoY uptick on account of lower electricity demand due to winter season that has kept the FO sales under pressure.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) outperformed the peers with improving MS/HSD sales by 1.5/2.5ppts to 42.1/47.8 percent during four months of FY21 compared to same period last year. Whereas, market share of Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) in MS/HSD diluted by 1.6/3ppts.

"Going forward, we expect MS and HSD sales to continue their recovery, whereas FO sales may remain under pressure, in our view", Syed Masroor Hussain Zaidi said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020